Vignettes a la Ronde
by Martin D. Pay
Summary: A conversation fic in 16 stanzas...


Excalibur Publications  
  
Proudly presents  
  
Vignettes a la Ronde  
  
A Bubblegum Crisis Conversation fic  
  
(BGC owned by Artmic/Youmex/whoever. Don't bother to sue - I don't have any money (I spent it all on anime DVDs ^_^ )  
  
* * * * *  
  
  
** Vignettes á la Ronde **  
  
* * * * *  
  
Priss? Oh, she's easy...  
  
::pause::  
  
::giggle::  
  
Um, that didn't come out quite right, did it?  
  
Priss is all about anger. She's angry at Genom for building boomers and then letting them out and kill people. She's angry at the ADPolice for not doing their job and at the corrupt politicians and moneymen who obstruct them. She's angry at the record companies that won't give her a chance...  
  
And then there are her friends who abandoned her by dying, and even her parents for leaving her...  
  
Mind you, she sings much better when she's angry, so maybe she ought to stay mad! (Umm, don't tell her I said that, OK?)  
  
Priss is so angry it scares me, sometimes...  
  
* * *  
  
I don't really know about 'Miss Moneybags'...  
  
::grin::  
  
I'm pretty sure that she came in just for the money when we started out - and I'm certain there's more to it now. She's definitely changed since Irene died. But I guess that 'nice' is the right word for her. She's not as uptight as Priss or Sylia. She likes to think things through - she hates to make mistakes or get things wrong.  
  
She's one of the team, but I don't really feel that I *know* her, you know what I mean? She sees Priss pretty often but she doesn't hang out with me. I don't think I've ever spent any time alone with her, outside the 'office'...  
  
::shrug::  
  
She's basically a private person. She likes to keep her private life separate from her life in the Knight Sabers, and to *keep* it private...  
  
* * *  
  
Now you're going to ask about Sylia, aren't you? Hmm...  
  
I guess the best word to describe Sylia is 'focused'. Or maybe 'driven'... I thought she was a real 'Ice Queen' when I first met her, but I don't think that's true, really. At least, not now. She cares a lot more than she ever lets us see, I *know* she does...  
  
Of course she's obsessive. And she can be quite... ruthless, like with Mason...  
  
::shiver::  
  
You remember how I said that Priss can be scary sometimes? Well, Sylia sometimes *terrifies* me...  
  
* * * * *  
  
You want to know about 'Little Miss Cyberpunk'? Heh...  
  
Well, she's cute, of course. Not as cute as she *thinks* she is, mind you, but she works hard at that 'loveable little ol' me' image. Don't let her fool you, though - she's got a brain in there, when she wants to use it...  
  
Of course she's horribly lazy and she has a terrible sweet tooth. I mean, whoever heard of someone who lets their boss bribe them to do unauthorised work with coupons for free desserts at local restaurants? Priss and I rib her about it something rotten, but she *does* have to watch her weight. She's always trying some new diet or other... Anything to keep her weight down without having to work up a sweat.  
  
I've really no idea why she became a Knight Saber. She's always terrified in a fight, and with her hacking skills she could find plenty of other ways to bug Genom, if that's what she wants to do, without fighting boomers.  
  
::grin::  
  
If I wanted to choose one word to describe her, it would have to be 'fluffy'...  
  
* * *  
  
Priss is all hot and cold, up and down... When she's 'up' she's really good company, really fun to be with - I've never seen Nene blush so much as when Priss started in on some of her really... filthy... jokes one evening. But when she's 'down' even her best friends try to keep well out of her way...  
  
Yes, she's my friend. She may be my best friend, actually. We see quite a bit of each other, and I always try to get to her concerts if I can. Once she's decided you're her friend, she's almost obsessively loyal. She gets a kick out of needling Nene, but she's always the first one to look out for her in a fight...  
  
I'm not sure why she hates boomers so much, unless it's just that she hates Genom for killing her first boyfriend and boomers are what Genom do. Of course since Sylvie and Anri she's been really confused about just *how* she feels about them, I think...  
  
I don't think I *can* sum her up in one word. She's too complicated...  
  
* * *  
  
Sylia is... well, 'Queen Bitch' sounds hard, but that's basically it. I work with her, but I can't honestly say that I *like* her. It didn't take me long to realise that she 'fixed' that audition because she wanted me to go with her, not work in the theatre, and I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive her for that...  
  
She reminds me of a cat - cool, aloof, stand-offish, and dangerous when she wants to be. The others don't really believe me, but I don't think she'd hesitate to invoke Rule 11 if she ever decided it was necessary. I'm sure Nene's friend Lisa came very close to having an 'unfortunate accident' at one point and that the only reason she didn't was because Sylia could see some use for her in the future.  
  
I certainly wouldn't call Sylia a friend. I'm not sure the word's even in her vocabulary.  
  
'Manipulative' sums her up perfectly...  
  
* * * * *  
  
You wanna know about 'Miss Good Looks and Amazing Brain', huh? She's a cute kid, and yeah, I take the piss out of her sometimes, even though that can be pretty hard to do when she starts making those big sad puppy-dog eyes at you...  
  
God knows why she joined the Knight Sabers. She can't hack it in a stand-up fight, that's for sure, and she gets scared shitless if a boomer even so much as *looks* at her...  
  
One of the Reps called her 'The Attack of the Over-Cute' the other day.  
  
::grin::  
  
Works for me...  
  
* * *  
  
Linna's OK. She thinks too much, but I trust her to watch my back in a fight. I reckon I can call her a friend - and she knows when to back off, as well...  
  
Of course she's a bit too keen on the money... and on her men too, for that matter, though I don't think I've ever seen her really serious about any of them.  
  
::grin::  
  
I think she *talks* up a good storm there, y'know?  
  
I suppose she's sort of... well, 'normal', really...  
  
* * *  
  
Sylia's... difficult. She saved me a couple of times from doing some *really* stupid things, so in a way I guess I owe her. She's tough, stubborn, hard as nails sometimes... a lot like me, really. She offered me a chance to get back at Genom and I don't regret taking her up on it...  
  
Of course she's crazy. You wouldn't just pick three girls and then start a war on the biggest zaibatsu in the world, otherwise.  
  
But yeah, she's a friend. She's always been there for me. She's even ignored her own rules for me... And that counts, in my book.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Nene joined the Knight Sabers because she wanted to 'make a difference', as she put it to me the first time we met. She's an idealist and in many ways an innocent in a dark and very dangerous world, and despite everything that we've been through she's managed to keep some of that idealism and innocence ... She's a lot stronger, a lot more resilient, than the others give her credit for, I think.  
  
Yes, she's lazy if she thinks she can get away with it and her incessant chatter can drive the others to some serious... reprisals... but she always comes through with a grin. And a little barb...  
  
Nene is the most... normal of us all. She's not driven, she's not obsessed. She has a regular job and both her parents are still alive, though she's only just started speaking to them again after a long estrangement. I'm sure she's the one who'll marry and settle down, if any of us do...  
  
* * *  
  
Linna is the only real mercenary in the team. She joined because she liked the idea of the money, though I think she's stayed because of what happened to Irene Chang.  
  
In many ways I relate to Linna least well because fundamentally we have very little in common outside the Knight Sabers. I find it quite... hard... to make small talk with someone whose conversation tends to revolve round new clothes, new cars and the new man in her life... I suspect that she knows about the audition, too, and that creates a gulf that we may never bridge...  
  
::sigh::  
  
I *like* Linna well enough, but I'll never feel as close to her as I do to Priss, for example...  
  
* * *  
  
Priss is my dark shadow. I know her best of all because I nearly *was* her, after my father... died. I understand the demons that drive her only too well...  
  
Her aggression is mostly a defence mechanism, a way to keep people at a distance because life has taught her that letting someone get close is a sure way for her to get hurt when they die. That's what motivates her responses to everything around her, whether it's making sarcastic comments to Nene about her weight, insulting any police officer that she comes across - or going hand-to-hand with a BU-55. She has a seriously self-destructive side that she has to work very hard to control...  
  
She's very much a 'loose cannon', and one day she'll do something that will get her killed.  
  
And yes, I *will* regret that. And not just for the sake of the team...  
  
* * * * *  
  
I wanted to make a difference. That was probably a bit naïve, but I was just a kid, then. That was why I joined the ADPolice, but it didn't take me very long at all to see that they were hopelessly inefficient, bogged down by rules and regulations and politics. All they were good for back then was getting their collective butts royally kicked...  
  
Yes, I still believe in what we do. That's one reason why I stay. And they *are* my friends, my team-mates... I couldn't just walk out on them.  
  
And to be honest I've got used to the adrenalin, the 'rush'. I *need* it, God help me. I feel more... alive, I guess, when I put on my suit, living on the edge. I don't think I could give it up now if I wanted to...  
  
* * * * *  
  
Why did I join the Knight Sabers? I was out of work, broke, and I needed to pay the rent. It really was as simple as that.  
  
Revenge for my parents' death? No, not at all. No-one thought that was anything more than one more tragic accident, back then... Boomers were new, no-one really knew anything about them except that they were pretty complicated machines and machines do go wrong, sometimes.  
  
Of course everything changed when Irene was killed. I might have left then, but I'm glad that I didn't... I wouldn't have got to meet her sister and helped her to avoid making a really huge mistake in her life. So hopefully we're doing some good out there...  
  
::grin::  
  
And the extra money *is* nice...  
  
* * * * *  
  
Hey, don't put me down as some sort of bleeding heart do-gooder, OK? When my pro debut comes through, I'm outta here. But while I'm waiting, Sylia offered me the chance to trash boomers, and here I am. Genom needs taking down a peg or three, and we're the only ones who can do it. The cops sure as hell can't.  
  
And yeah, I guess we do some good out there. No-one else gives a damn about the little people, like Irene or Sho...  
  
::evil grin::  
  
And we get to show up the ADPolice, which suits me just fine.  
  
::slightly less evil grin::  
  
Anyway, how else could I get my bike fixed for free?  
  
  
* * * * *  
  
::raised eyebrow::  
  
You don't *seriously* expect me to talk about myself, do you?  
  
* * * * *  
  
- Fin -  
  
  
* * * * *  
  
Author's notes-  
  
This grew out of a scene in another fic that I was crafting at the time; I started to wonder just how the Knight Sabers saw each other. The real challenge was to give each member of the team a distinct voice...  
  
Martin D. Pay  
Chelmsford, UK  
April 2002 


End file.
